Dixie State University curator named Utah Museum Educator of the Year

Kathy Cieslewicz, the Dixie State University Sears Art Museum Gallery curator, has been selected as the 2016 Utah Museum Educator of the Year by the Utah Art Education Association.
Cieslewicz, who was nominated for the award by Dixie State faculty and other museum educators in Utah, was selected as the winner due to her distinguished efforts to provide educational opportunities to students across the state.
“I’m proud to have her on our team and proud to have her at Dixie,” Jeffery Jarvis, dean of Dixie State’s College of the Arts, said. “She is well deserving of this honor, as she works tirelessly for the arts in the schools.”
Cieslewicz devotes herself to promoting and advocating for Utah artists while seeking professional development opportunities for artists to advance their careers. Among other duties, she is in charge of curating and coordinating art exhibitions at Dixie State’s Sears Art Museum Gallery. Cieslewicz said she is honored to have received this award, though she believes the real award is in her work.
“No one in education works passionately for recognition,” Cieslewicz said. “However, educators have this insatiable passion to inspire, encourage and excite others to learn. When we see eyes light up or we see our students succeed and sometimes get a simple ‘thank you,’ it makes it all worthwhile.”
The goal of the UAEA is to increase the quality of visual arts education in Utah through a variety of events and opportunities. The Utah Museum Educator of the Year award was developed to honor individuals’ dedication to the artistic education of Utah children.